Birmingham manager Harry Redknapp has insisted that Liam Walsh will be in contention for a first-team spot this season after signing for the Championship club on loan from Everton last week.

Walsh, 19, completed his deal with the West Midlands side in the early hours of Friday morning after he was confirmed to have left Goodison Park after the 11pm transfer deadline on Thursday.

The young Everton midfielder will play at St. Andrew’s until January and will no doubt be looking to gain some invaluable first-team experience while working under the charge of Redknapp.

The ex-Tottenham manager is clearly pleased with snapping up the former England Under-18 international, who is very highly rated among the academy staff on Merseyside.

“Liam Walsh, he’s a typical lad from the Liverpool area,” said Redknapp, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo in their live transfer blog on Monday [02:23pm].

“That kind of character. He’s another real talent. He’s a little tiger. He can play, he digs, he will be scrapping for a place in the team for sure.”

Walsh is yet to earn a senior appearances for Everton but has had a previous spell on loan with Yeovil, which proved fruitful as he played 17 times in all competitions and scored his first professional goal.

He was in good form for David Unsworth’s Under-23 side in Premier League 2 last month as he wore the captain’s armband and pulled the strings behind a 3-0 thrashing of Chelsea.